Narc is a 2002 crime film starring Jason Patric and Ray Liotta. The film starts with an undercover narcotics officer Nick Tellis (Jason Patric), pursuing a drug dealer after his cover has been blown, ending in the death of the drug dealer as well as a stray bullet causing the miscarriage of a pregnant women. Eighteen months later, Tellis is persuaded to investigate the cold-blooded murder of another undercover narcotics officer named Michael Calvess. He is partnered with another detective, Henry Oak (Ray Liotta). Nick Tellis tries to seek out the real reason for Michael Calvess's death behind his partner's back, and we are given a glimpse into the seedy side of police work in a poorer area. The film was well received, and made back twice it's fairly modest production cost.

This film provides examples of:

Adult Fear: A major example at the beginning of the film. The man Tellis is chasing through the streets runs onto a local playground and grabs a pregnant woman's daughter. He uses her as a human shield while holding a syringe full of narcotics to her throat. Tellis, who is strongly implied to be high on the man's drugs at the time, fires several rounds at him while running frantically. He's able to kill the man and save the child, but he also hits the girl's mother in the thigh. We find out immediately after that this caused her to miscarry.

The little girl that Oak tells Tellis about, her mother died and her stepfather pimped her out for drugs.

Badass: Tellis and Oak are both experienced detectives who frequently get into deadly situations.

Bittersweet Ending: Tellis finally gets told the truth of how Calvess died during Oak's last moments of life, and it was all recorded on tape. He is left to choose whether he will give the tape to the police or not. The credits roll before he makes a choice.

Dirty Cop: Both Oak and Tellis are this, but especially Oak: "The only thing you need to know about me, is that I'm gonna bag the motherfuckers that killed Mike. If that means breaking every point of procedure, then they're broke."

Flashback: There are many flashbacks to Calvess's death: some of them come from Tellis's imagination whilst others are showing potential scenarios of what really happened in that tunnel.

Friendly Fire: In the aforementioned chase scene, Tellis takes the risk of firing a number of shots whilst running when the drug dealer he's chasing takes a baby hostage. The drug dealer is killed instantly, but one of the other bullet ricochets and hits a pregnant women.

Gangsta Style: Tellis holds his gun this way after being taken by surprise for a couple of shots, and hits nothing. He then holds the gun normally and with his second hand for support manages to shoot Darnell in the leg. It's done out of desperation and as a knee jerk reaction, rather than trying to look cool.

I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Tellis and Oak investigate a grisly scene with a headless corpse holding a shotgun in a bath tub. We find out that it wasn't a suicide, but an accidental discharge because the man was trying to use the shotgun as a smoking pipe and forgot it was loaded.

Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: When Oak and Tellis find the two guys that beat up Calvess in the tunnel, they are tied down to chairs and get increasingly worse treatment. Oak ends up punching both of them a lot of times and firing a revolver close to their heads.

Jerkass: Both Nick Tellis and Henry Oak themselves enjoying roughing up their suspects when they want to.

Knight Templar: Tellis and Oak might not be fully-fledged bad guys themselves, but they have way too much authority to abuse in their hands.

Let Me Tell You a Story: Through casual conversation, Oak ends up telling the story of his wife's death to Tellis, and how ever since he's had no reservation in breaking the rules

Never Suicide: Inverted. Henry Oak is investigating his friend's murder but it turns out he was covering up his suicide so that 1) his wife could receive a pension and 2) to frame the drug dealers who supplied him.

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Oak beats up a criminal with an eight ball inside a sock after he's been arrested. Oak also beats up Tellis when he begins to suspect him and challenge him. Not to mention the beating Calvess gets before he dies.

Only a Flesh Wound: Tellis gets lucky when he's shot by Deacon - it results in a relatively minor neck wound. He still has to go to the hospital and take medication though.

Papa Wolf: Oak is very protective of children, despite not having any of his own. The violent eight ball beating mentioned above is prompted because the guy on the receiving end is an abusive husband and father.

Parental Substitute: It is revealed that Calvess' widow is actually the little girl that Oak saved in the past. He was able to get her clean and set her up with one of his cop friends, Calvess. Everything Oak does in the movie is to take care of her, since he sees her as the daughter he and his late wife never had.

Sadistic Choice: Tellis is presented with one at the very end. He can either hand over Oak's taped confession, ensuring that the two dealers don't go down for a crime they didn't commit and that Calvess' wife and children get nothing. Or he can conceal the tape, letting the dealers take the fall while the widow receives Calvess's pension to support her and her daughters. The credits roll before he can make a choice.

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